Zebrabwe
by Nemrith
Summary: Zecora wasn't always a lonely zebra in the everfree forest. A disaster that she was blamed for in her distant past brought her there. This story takes us back to Zecora's Homeland, and that terrible disaster which led her to Ponyville.
1. Prelude

Prelude

Many are familiar with Equestria, but not its close southern equatorial neighbor Zebrabwe. Nor do they know of the tragedy that struck the nation of powerfully independent Zebras nearly twenty years ago.

" Princess Zecora, the people are in revolt! The dragons that descended upon us from the north have stirred up the flames of rebellion and discontent, covering the vastness of our land in shadow and smoke. They appear over towns and cities alike, taking what they desire and laying waste to all whom oppose them. They're coming for you, majesty." Zecora's loyal attendant Elnir told her.

" Whenever we drive one away many more decide to stay." Zecora mused, watching the lands before her Several smoldering dots on the horizon marked former cities and towns that had already been ravaged by the invading dragons.

" Princess, the revolutionary army has arrived, They demand your royal person, we can't hold them for long, several outlying provinces have had defectors join them. They are well armed and organized." A guard said, bursting into the antechamber.

" Let me speak to them before we slay, perhaps they'll listen to what I have to say." Zecora said, coming in from the balcony, heading towards the entrance to the palace.

" Princess, it's a lynch mob, they'll bind your wings, seal your magic and see you hang before they let you lead again. Please reconsider." Elnir said, following her.

" I'll not flee, you shall wait and see." Zecora said dismissively.

As she threw wide the doors of the palace the crowd of revolutionaries quieted and stopped pressing against the thin line of guards that had kept them from storming the stairs. Less than a dozen of the powerful guards remained in capable health, the others having been beaten within an inch of their lives, and captured or killed.

" My people, these dragons we fight, this night are on the eve of victory from your willful display of might." Zecora chided them.

" You're supposed to protect us! You're our princess, and you've failed us!" The leader of the revolutionaries, Kimber, accused her.

At this the revolutionaries surged forward, overwhelming the exhausted guards. The scene at the bottom of the steps appalled Zecora. She stepped back a couple of lengths before being roughly captured by these ruffians. Her palace guards had been handily defeated by these outlying deserters and farmers. They'd bound her and led her to her very own dungeons. Leaving her there while they planned their resistance against the dragonlords.

" They know not what they do. The nearest, Thorn will make of them a stew..." Zecora wept openly in her cell. Thorn the nearest and by far largest of the Dragonlords would've seen and heard the capital Bridledolas' fall.

" Princess, a trial in absentia has found you guilty of national neglect. Our sorcerers are awaiting you in the penal chamber." Kimber said, a couple days later. It was hard to tell except for the very slight variances in the light levels, now that darkness coated the land thicker than the grasses of the plains.

" Lead then, and do proud your men." Zecora said, following him out.

" The penalty as decided by the revolutionary court is that you shall be stripped of your wings, and your magical horn. To show all in our land that you've lost your right to rule. Additionally henceforth you are exiled to the northlands. You may only return if, and we mean only if you can defeat the Dragonlords. Failure is forfeiture of your life." A hooded zebra presiding over the observers stated.

" My wings and horn... surely your hatred knows no bounds when paired with your scorn." Zecora said solemnly.

The circle of sorcerers chanted, and when their voices reached a crescendo a bright light filled the room, and Zecora's horn and wings were gone. She no longer appeared an Alicorn, born to royal birth, to lead her people, but a common Zebra. Kimber's Men led her to the northern border, leaving her with a small wagon of carefully selected possessions and friendless.

Reader's Note: Part of my Origin saga that I'm compiling. I hope you enjoy this little trot into the unknown. My rhyming scheme has improved a bit I hope. This'll hopefully shed some light on my other stories. I wanted to start at the end. The next part will take us back to the arrival of the dragons.


	2. Chapter 1 A Summer to Burn By

Chapter 1: A Summer to Burn by

The sun began its long journey across the skies of Zebrabwe as Zecora watched it spread light throughout her land. The sprawling city if Bridledolas lay before her, and the outlying towns upon the rolling plains which made up Zebrabwe.

" Princess Zecora, some ponies from the border town of Cairage are here to see you. They say that something terrible came from the north and killed their animals." Elnir said, interrupting her observance of the land.

" I will see them in the Antechamber, we should not make them linger." Zecora said, calmly walking over to her throne, where she took her seat.

The small bedraggled party of zebras were still dirty from their journey on the road. A few had minor injuries which would've put an average inhabitant of Bridledolas in bed for a week.

" What have you seen, to cast upon you such a sheen?" Zecora asked them.

" A giant winged monster came from north of the border. At first it took our cattle without asking, sweeping in to eat them. And the next day it landed in the middle of our town square, demanding our gems and circs. The first zebra to deny the demands was burned to a crisp. The same monster has been terrorizing other towns near ours as well. Every attempt to resist has been met with unspeakable brutality." One of the horned Zebras said, painting a picture in the air between them and the princess.

" A dragon it would seem, would have you gone." Zecora observed knowingly seeing the clear depiction that the Zebra had drawn and pairing it with the only thing it could be.

" We're in sore need of help from the Zebrabwean Royal Army, if you'd be so generous to help..." The Zebra said, kneeling in a perfectly acceptable imitation of submission.

" I will lead the Guard in removing this menace from your lands, though you should learn to do so by your own hands." Zecora announced, motioning for one of the Zebras at the entry way to the Antechamber to gather up a Legion of zebras for this threat.

" Princess, you do not have to lead them personally surely a few legionaires would be enough to supplant the invading...dragon." the zebra said humbly.

" You said yourself that you've already lost several zebrafolk to it. Why shouldn't the princess go along? We'll need all the help we can get to take care of this dragon." Elnir said, speaking up, having returned to the antechamber when he saw the Legion gathering to march. On his way to the Antechamber, he'd overheard several of the legionaires talking of the mission they were to undertake.

" We of course will meet you outside of Cairage, looking forward to our deliverance from this dragon." the zebra said, rising back to his feet.

" Your name, we would know it, so that we could remember you after the battle." Zecora asked.

" Zephyr, your majesty." Zephyr said, leaving to head back to Cairage ahead of the Legion.

Zecora had Elnir help her into her armor. Before leaving the palace, she threw a few bolts of raw magical energy towards a practice target to make sure she hadn't gotten rusty in the peaceful years of her reign.

" Zebra of the Legion, today we march for Cairage, to liberate them from the oppression of an Equestrian Dragon gone rogue. This dragon has been killing and robbing our kin, and we cannot allow it to go on. We will go not for ourselves, but for those who depend on us for security. When we lick this dragon, it'll serve as a warning to all of those who would see us kneel in defeat! A warning to those who think of Zebrabwe as a flyspeck nation of weaklings. We will make an EXAMPLE of this dragon." Zecora said, breaking with her mild mannered normal way of speaking.

The gathered Zebras which would be marching or flying with her cheered confidently. Any mission directed by the princess was destined for success. Any enemy of Zebrabwe would have to face down the full might of the Legion and their Ace, their Princess.

Outrunners had already left Bridledolas, so that the Zecora and her soldiers would have plenty of time to get into position to fight the dragon on advantageous ground, should it come to meet the column.

" Stay safe princess, I am no warrior. So I will stay here with your steward, Maggie." Elnir said, watching her leave as the clouds for the evening shower were moved into position.

Reader's Note: My updates are going to slow down compared to December, for those of you who are following me from story to story. I don't really have a good bead on how many people are reading :S. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, and enjoyed the New Year. While I said I want to Finish Zebrabwe by the 31st, it might end up being longer, as I shift my focus from FF to Original Fiction.


	3. Chapter 2 The Cairage Incident

Chapter 2: The Cairage Incident

As the legionaires approached where Cairage was supposed to be, smoke rose where the town and its adjacent hamlets should be. What was over the next rise gave pause to the confident march from Bridledolas.

" He, it burned Cairage to the ground." Zephyr said, tiredly, going to meet Zecora at the head of her column.

" All the more reason to stop him here, before he can further instill fear." Zecora said sternly, passing the supplicant to examine the ruins.

" He said that if we lured the legion here, he'd spare the town..." Zephyr said weeping.

" What do you mean?" Zecora started, pausing in her inspection, before being interrupted by one of the outrunners.

" Princess! The dragon is back, and is angling to strafe the column, we have to get into position now!" The exhausted outrunner said before collapsing in the ashen dirt.

" You heard her! Get into position, we have to bring this dragon down before we're all gone!" Zecora said, directing her troops to cover and cloud.

The massive black and brown dragon flew over the column just as they took to cover, a handful of spears flew up to mostly bounce off the robust scales of the dragon. Little strings of magic flew up from the users, assisted by their brews, they stretched and yielded as the dragon banked for a second, closer pass.

" Now my friends!" Zecora shouted, raising a large wall of earth for the dragon to crash through, the final component to the magic strings, having them coalesce into bound stone pillars, as the zebras who'd first tossed the magical strings anchored them into the ground shortly after they'd cast them.

The Dragon roared in frustration and anger at its summary capture. It struggled in vain as Zecora trotted up to him to confront him.

" Why are you here, causing my people to fear? Is it not enough to be considered in your homeland, tough?" Zecora asked the dragon.

" By the gems of Paarthunax! An Alicorn in this land of savages? Are you the 'princess' these pathetic earth grubbers have threatened me with?" The dragon asked incredulously.

" Why. Are. You. Here?" Zecora asked more insistently.

" When my siblings and I escaped from Equestria, we sought a place to call our own. We flew across the southern border. We dragonlords claim this land in our names. For the treasure you hold, and the gems we would have." The dragon proclaimed as loftily as he could from within the binding stone prison, still trying to feel out the weaknesses in it. Trying to get it to give.

" You dragonlords will have to find another place, unless you wish to lose face. I'll not permit you to rob my people. What treasure you desire, you must earn, unless you wish my ire." Zecora informed him.

" If it takes a legion to bind me alone, I see no reason for me to listen to you. I am but one, but soon my brothers and sisters will come, and what will you do then?" the dragon asked, and snorted at her suggestion that he earn what he felt he could take by force.

His tail slithered out of the binding stone, cutting it to pieces with his razor sharp ridges. One of Zecora's sorcerors cried out, trying to warn her, before being flung into the smoldering ruins of Cairage by that very tail.

" Even now your bindings upon me weaken. You do not have the _power_ to contain me, much less control me." The Dragon said, using his tail to weaken the stone bindings around one of his arms.

" I have not yet begun, you comment as though I am as ordinary as the sun." Zecora said, stepping backwards, into the ruined shell of one of the buildings that had composed the outskirts of Cairage before the fires consumed them.

" Yet as you speak you flee. I cannot take you seriously." The dragon said, pausing as he realized that he'd begun to speak as she.

Zecora smiled knowingly, disappearing behind a broken wall as the dragon's golden eyes glazed over. With a muffled 'clop' she stomped on a crossbeam, launching some ash into the dragons mouth, causing it to cough.

" You will do as I say, and then you will pray that I do not more." Zecora said, to the dragon as it collapsed unconscious.

" Princess, what do you have planned?" One of her lieutenants asked.

" You will see, for now you must help me. Search for survivors, if the dragon is to be believed, more will come, and by then I will have them struck dumb." Zecora instructed the lieutenant as she whispered instructions into the receptive ear of the now dominated dragon.

Nearly an hour later Zecora and her Legion were watching as their dominated dragon fought four others over the Ruins of Cairage. The survivors, numbering nearly three dozen, mares, foals and stallions had been escorted by the majority of the Legion back to Bridledolas. There they would be placed in a refugee camp until they could find new homes, or relatives to take them in at other towns.

" Wait, should they not turn from us? My instruction was precise, concise, and clear. The dragons should now return from where they came." Zecora said to herself, as the fight gradually came to a stop in the ruins of the town center.

The dragons that had arrived later seemed to be talking to the dominated dragon. After one laid claw to the others head, Zecora felt the control spell shatter. She turned to the other zebra sorcerors. "Run."

Reader's Note: I hope you enjoyed, I have a pretty good idea of how to get from point A to point B. Probably going to be about 7 chapters. I can't speak to the length of said chapters though, can pretty much guarantee 300. Let me know what you think, review message whichever.


	4. Chapter 3 A Different Kind of Diplomacy

Chapter 3: A Different kind of Diplomacy

As the Princess and her honor guard of stallions and mares fell back to a hillock where she'd wisely held the ballistae in reserve. As the dragons came after their fleeing forms the ballistae fired, their shots going wide as dragonfire swept over them causing their oiled wood to burn brightly as the ropes used for drawing them snapped from the sudden heat.

Potions flew from Zecora and a handful of others as the dragons swooped low. The bottles when they made contact had various effects on the dragons, although not quite as intended due to their natural resistance to alchemy.

" Begone from here, for it is me whom you should fear!" Zecora shouted standing atop a lesser hill behind the two that were smouldering from the dragon's fire.

" We do not fear you little ponyling, you are all weak and soft, we shall certainly enjoy dining on you and your gems!" The large purple and green dragon said breathily, flames licking out around his mouth as he landed and stalked forward to devour Zecora.

" You should, as I will cut through you as though you were wood!" Zecora shouted, a spear and shield appearing to her sides as she telekinetically manipulated them.

The dragon, as proud and ignorant as he was did not heed her warning and charged forward intending to cook the cocky princess with his bright green flames. For a frightening moment the Zebra Legionnaires stood in abject horror as their beloved princess was completely engulfed in flames.

When the fire abated she was still there, singed but swiftly jumping to action bouncing off the dragon's snout to stab and slash with her spear buffeting the arrogant creature with her leathery shield her robes fluttering out behind her as she trotted up and down distracting the beast as his comrades, the previously beguiled dragon included, looked on with some small measure of respect for the royal who defied them.

Her bedazzling show of martial skill did not last however, and the purple dragon rolled, taking her with it as she failed to leap free in time. With a Flex of his wings the dragon flung Zecora far over the heads of her followers where she landed with a sicking crack of breaking bone and a softer thud, her spear and shield sundered with the strong blow from the dragon.

The moment passed and her brave Legionnaires trotted into action, inspired by her actions which had bought them time to regroup, a handful took her crumpled form and fled, while the rest held the dragons off. Few were able to so hold the dragon's attention as she had, as lacking in the enchanted clothing and equipment she'd cantered into battle with. To top it all off the other dragons joined in the melee that ensued after the purple shook Zecora loose.

As it was both bouts of diplomacy, aggressive and otherwise had failed the monarch of the Zebrabwean nation leaving one of the jewels of the sahara burning behind them as they retreated. The story of Cairage would be told hundreds of times in the coming days and would do little to bolster public opinion for the princess or her initiatives to curb the spread of the draconic influence and their oppression of her people.

Reader's Note: Sorry update took so long, lots of RL things happened but needless to say I think I may have gotten my writers 'feet' back under me, and I should be updating my various stories more regularly as summer comes.


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